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| Same thing, only not elated. (Also, my apologies on the sizing, but I committed.) |
I won’t beat around the bush. The Portland Timbers' 1-1 draw
against the New England Revolution just left me feeling funny. Not ha ha funny,
but not bad funny either. Here, “funny” just means weird, as if some solid
object in the corner of my eye looks different than it normally does.
Maybe it’s that simple. After the Timbers first three games
of the season made it reasonable to dream of a Supporters’ Shield delivered by
the pantheon of False Gods of the Holidays (say, The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus,
Jack Skellington, Uncle Sam, a crying, headless turkey, and…fuck, I dunno, a
fire-proof flag?), the last two games underlined the more plausible case – i.e.,
that none of this will be easy. Because it never is.
It could also be that so much of tonight felt so good. I mean, Portland had this, and the
Revolution didn’t do shit, really, till they scored their heartbreaking
equalizer – and, guys, Jake Gleeson, that’s all I’m saying. And I was, I mean, I am a big, big fan (but, Jake, srsly, with limits). Sure, New England
ratcheted up the pressure throughout the game, but the break-through never
really felt like it would come, at least not until it did. But it did, so…
Think of your favorite moment from this game. No, besides
Diego Valeri’s Goal-of-the-Year-Burn-the-Ballots-NOW-Assholes volley to give
Portland the early, and, for much of the night, plausibly impermeable lead.
Review the evening and think about the thing you saw that made the Portland
Timbers feel like an elite team, the Seal Team 6 of MLS…I mean insofar as the
league allows that kind of thing. Here’s mine: Diego Guzman turning pirouettes
inside (I swear) the Timbers’ 6-yard box, on his way to playing the ball
crisply out of danger with the insouciance of a tight-rope walker wearing clown
shoes. Guys, we have something else special on our hands now, and one of the
great game-busting mechanisms in the (not universal; see, tonight) high-press
era. More on that later, for I have a continuation and a counter-point to make….
